News

Council for Equity and Community launches new Web site

The new Web site of the Council for Equity and Community (CEC) includes the group’s 2009 annual report of activities to the Lehigh community as well as a variety of other resources and information. The “Achieving Equity and Community at Lehigh” site can be found at www.lehigh.edu/diversity.

The CEC, a 14-member body comprising faculty, staff, and undergraduate and graduate students, was convened in March 2008. A representative and empowered group, the council was charged by President Alice P. Gast with facilitating and sustaining the next generation of diversity and equity initiatives on campus.

“Over the past 20 years, Lehigh has assembled a number of diversity task forces, benchmarking studies, and initiatives with goals to improve the campus climate and increase the numbers of women and people of color among the faculty, staff, students, and university leadership,” says MJ Bishop, associate professor and coordinator of the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Program, who serves as CEC co-chair. “It has been our ongoing conviction that success in these areas will make us a stronger community and provide a richer educational experience for all.”

In addition to helping implement these university-wide goals and initiatives and assessing progress, the CEC reports annually to the campus community. The council’s first such report is taking the form of the new Web site.

“We are very proud of the new site,” says Carolina Hernandez, director of community service and CEC co-chair. “It’s the product of a lot of hard work and input from many individuals. It includes specifics about the CEC’s activities for the academic year, links to resources, news about diversity-related initiatives across campus, and information about how members of the community can get involved in our mission.”

In addition to what is already on the site, new content is planned, including “perspectives” spotlight pieces, a listing of social justice courses available in the Lehigh curriculum, recruitment and retention figures, and comparisons to peer institutions on a variety of indicators.

“We are pleased to be able to provide this resource to the campus community and will continue to add to the site as appropriate,” Bishop says. “And we welcome all feedback, particularly suggestions for other things we might include.”